


The Lighthouse

by Historywriter2007



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Married Everlark, Mystery, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-06-06 20:00:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6768058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Historywriter2007/pseuds/Historywriter2007
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>M&H Restoration got the contract of a lifetime fixing up the Old Panam Lighthouse, but when strange things start to happen they realize they are in danger.  Now it is a race against time to find out the truth before someone gets hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for the warm welcome to this fandom. This was actually the first story I started, but I was not sure where I wanted it to go for awhile. It will be a few chapters, most of which are written so it should be updated as they are edited. Please read and review!
> 
> I do not own The Hunger Games, but love the characters.

Peeta pulled the truck up to the front of the old lighthouse and let out a sigh. He knew that this was the biggest job they had earned to date, but something about it just did not feel right. Katniss, Gale, and Madge, on the other hand, seemed to be over the moon with the contract. The all loved the work and it was great that they were able to follow their passions, instead of working the 9-5 circuit. While Peeta had family money, it was not until his mother passed away that he was able to finally do what he wanted. His father always pushed the boys to follow their dreams, but his mother felt they needed to focus on being practical. This led Peeta to get his degree in architecture, which really did help him in the end. 

It was while earning this degree that he met the love of his life, Katniss. She was nothing like him, in looks or personality; she was reserved and he was outgoing; while physically, her dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes were a sharp contrast to his pale skin, ashy blond hair and blue eyes. They were different in every way. However, they do say that opposites attract and he was attracted to her the second he saw her. It took him far too long to approach her, since he thought her cousin, Gale, was her boyfriend at first. He will never forget the day Gale told him the truth while laughing. He asked Katniss out that night and they never separated, even when his mother tried to interfere. His mother was always a hateful and abusive woman, but she saved her worst for Katniss. Even still, it didn’t push them apart, it made them stronger. They promised to never let anything come between them and that they would always protect each other. 

Graduation marked a new chapter in their life, but he still followed the path his mother had set out for him. At least it took some heat off of Katniss if his mother thought she was pushing him towards those same goals. Peeta hated that both of them gave into the demands of his mother, but history told him it was easier this way, as sometimes a man needs to do anything he can to keep the peace. After two years of working long hours at the architecture firm, his mother passed away. Within days he made two life-changing decisions he knew she would have hated; he quit his job and asked Katniss to marry him. Six months later they were married and started a restoration business with her cousin Gale and his wife Madge. 

The lighthouse looked like something they would have seen on one of those tacky ghost hunting tv shows. There were broken windows and ivy growing up brick walls of the two-story living quarters that sat about one hundred feet away from the lighthouse. The house looked sad and depressed, perhaps if the sun was out it would not seem so bad. The island itself was enjoyable. The sounds of waves hitting the sharp rocks and seagulls, along with the strong scent of salt-filled ocean, gave a hint of serenity. Peeta knew it was their job to bring this lighthouse back to life, but this one actually seemed to cry out “leave me alone.” 

"This is going to be some job," Katniss stated pulling Peeta from his thoughts. “How long do we have to finish it?"

“The contract says three months, but we can always ask for an extension now that we have seen it.” Madge starting frantically flipping through papers on her bright pink clipboard as they entered the living quarters. “They said the last group had completed a lot of the demo, but it looks like they were less than efficient.” 

Gale was already moving into the main room to start tapping on the walls looking for the load bearing ones. “Well, it’s not like this is our first rodeo. Let’s get a better idea of what we need to do before we start asking for more time. There is a bonus for finishing in the timeframe right?” 

Peeta was already wandering away from the group as they continued to discuss the contract. The sound of the ocean seemed to get louder as he climbed up and away. It was like he couldn’t stop as he moved from the stairs to the hallway and finally to the room at the end of the hall. He slowly pushed the door open to find a bare room with wooden floors and large windows. Feelings of pain and sadness filled the space almost taking away his breath. He was so overcome by them that he missed the sound of the others coming up the stairs. It was not until he felt a hand on his shoulder that the spell was broken. “Hey, you ok?” Peeta looked into the concerned silver eyes of his wife. 

"Yeah, just trying to picture what we can do with the place," Peeta stated with a strained smile. He knew he wasn’t fooling her but he also knew she would let it go, for now anyway. 

Always the one to keep the group on tasks, Madge pushed for the group to leave. “Let’s get out of here, I am starving and we need to get checked into our condo.” 

 

Although Panam, North Carolina was a vacation spot, the town was small and only had two restaurants and the team settled for Sae’s diner. The guys went ahead to get a table while the ladies found their condo a street away. The diner was everything they thought it would be, complete with décor that was left over from the 1950’s, totally playing up the nostalgia factor. They were seated quickly by a bubbly blond, who announced her name was Delly before adding that she would also be their waitress. She quickly took their drink orders and bounced away, but not before winking at Peeta. 

"Better not let Katniss catch her looking at you like that," Gale said with a smirk.

“What are you talking about?” 

“Are you feeling ok? Gale reached out to put his hand on Peeta’s head as if to feel for a fever. “I know you don’t notice other women, but you are usually not this clueless when someone is flirting with you. She practically ran across the room to greet us then stared at you like you were a steak and she was a wolf.” 

Peeta gave Gale’s hand a swat and shook his head. “First of all, yes I am fine, second, I am for Katniss’s consumption only and third, I don’t think you are seeing things straight.” Just as Peeta finished talking four beers arrived at the table along with their waitress, who brushed her hand against his arm after putting them on the table. 

“I don’t remember seeing you around.” She said to Peeta. “We usually don’t get too many visitors after the summer season.” 

“We are working on the lighthouse for the next few months.” Gale replied for Peeta. 

The waitress looked at the two in shock. “You know that place is haunted right? The last set of contractors ran from town after only a week. One guy said he was having dreams about his dead grandmother, the next day he fell from a ladder and broke his leg.” She gained back her flirty tone before finishing. “Better be careful out there, wouldn’t want to see you get hurt” She ran a finger along Peeta’s arm before leaning in showing her cleavage. “So, do you want to wait for the others to order?” 

“They are going to wait for their wives to order.” The voice boomed behind Peeta, making the waitress straightened up quickly. Gale chuckled as Katniss’s scowl took form and Peeta stared wide eyed at her as he knew how Katniss could be when she thought someone was flirting with him. It was one of the things he loved about her, the look she had when she was jealous. The two women got into the booth with their husbands ignoring the flustered waitress who stated she would be right back. 

"See, I told you she was flirting," Gale stated.

“Yea, well I have all I could ever need right here.” Peeta tried to place a kiss on Katniss’s lips, but she turned away causing him to kiss her cheek instead. 

“Oh, flirting the whole time huh...and did you lead her on?”

Before Peeta could answer Gale broke in. “Nope, he was clueless the whole time. He has been off his game since we got here.” 

Peeta shook off Katniss’s worried look, “I am fine, just tired from the drive. Not all of us got to sleep in the backseat the whole way here.” He stated with a pointed glare at Gale. 

“Some of us need our beauty sleep, we can’t all look like a Greek god!” Gale said back with a smirk. “But we all love you just the same.”

The remainder of dinner consisted of jabs between the guys and glares from Katniss to the waitress. Peeta was sure they all had spit in their food by the time it arrived. After leaving a big tip, as it is the only real restaurant in town and they were going to be here for a while, they made their way back to the condo Madge had rented. With reminders of an early meeting with the lighthouse owners, the couples went to their respective rooms.

 

“Thank God we have our own bathroom. You know how bad it is to share with Gale.” Katniss joked as she walked out of the bathroom in a black nighty. Peeta’s jaw went slack the second he saw her. Even though they have been together for 6 years, the sight of her with her hair down and flowing over her bare shoulders always took his breath away. 

"Yea," Peeta stated as he quickly cut the distance between them. "Even better that the rooms are on opposite sides of the condo. You don't have to worry about all the noise you are going to make."

“Oh really, and what makes you think I am not tired?” She teased him, keeping just enough distance that he could not kiss her. 

“I can think of a few ways to wake you up.” Peeta started moving the thin straps of silky fabric from her shoulder. He felt her shudder as the goosebumps started to form on her arms as the material flowed down her small frame pooling at her feet “You are so beautiful.” He whispered before placing his mouth over a dusky nipple, eliciting a moan from Katniss. She gathered herself, before placing her hand under his chin to gently move his face up to see hers. “You sure you are okay?”

“Never better. In fact, I want to show you just how good I feel.” Peeta guided her to the edge of the bed, pushing her to the mattress. She tried to move toward the middle, but he caught her knees and tugged her back towards him. Katniss raised her eyebrow with a questioning look that lasted only seconds, as she knew what he planned next. Peeta hurriedly pulled her panties off and started pressing feather kisses along her toned legs stopping momentarily to look at her as he reached her thighs. Her hooded eyes still held a bit of worry from the events of the day, but he knew just how to make all of that go away. He separated her lower lips with his thumbs and laid a long slow line with his tongue up her slit stopping just before reaching her clit. Her moans of approval proved he knew what he was doing to her. He caressed her with his tongue, eventually making his way to her clit, sucking and nipping as he slipped two fingers into her. Moments later she was pulsating around his fingers, panting his name. He smirked knowing she was trying desperately to be quite, but that was not the game tonight. He was going to make her scream his name before it was all done. 

As Katniss recovered, Peeta removed his boxer briefs and grabbed her around her waist plunging into her. They moaned together as he filled her entirely and she started thrusting up to meet him. Staring down at his wife, her breast bouncing with each movement always got to Peeta. He couldn’t believe he was this lucky. He started to feel the tightening that meant he was close so he reached down and started circling her clit with his thumb. Katniss was moaning louder and louder, as all attempts at being quiet were out the window. He grabbed under her back with his arm raising it to hit a new angle and moments later they both came, shouting each other’s name. 

Peeta quickly went to the bathroom and got a washcloth to clean them up. A chuckle left his lips when he found Katniss had not moved. A sign she felt thoroughly fucked and content, he knew that meant no more worrying tonight. Peeta cleaned her up before tossing the cloth into the open bathroom door. He laid down and she put her head on his shoulder, it was like she was made to fit in that spot. He looked deep into her eyes and felt overwhelmed, “I love you, always.” He was not sure why he said always after, it just seemed to fall from his lips. The words had a hint of desperation behind them. Katniss had not heard that tone in years; in fact it hadn’t been since the last time his mother pushed him to stay away from her that he sounded so wounded. Katniss looked up and met his cornflower blue eyes. “I love you too. You know I am not going anywhere, right?” 

"Yea, I know. I just said that, I don't even really know why." Peeta tried to shake it off but he had a feeling deep in his stomach that something bad was coming. He leaned in and kissed his wife as they both tried to sleep with the sound of the ocean flowing through their open window. 

 

Pulling up to the house for the second time still filled Peeta with dread, but this time, Katniss felt it too. The sky above the living quarters was thick with clouds again creating an ominous feel of the island, even though the lighthouse itself stood proudly looking well maintained, despite the fact that it had been abandoned decades before. The team emptied the truck to find the owners of the home waiting for them on the front porch.

The younger man spoke first walking down the steps to meet everyone as they reached the home. “Hi, I’m Finnick, that’s my Aunt Mags, who actually owns the home and my wife Annie. You must be M & H Restoration.” His smile was ear to ear showing off perfect white teeth and shining green eyes that were enough to push any woman over the edge. 

Gale spoke first, reaching out to shake his hand. “I am Gale, this is my wife Madge, and that’s Peeta and his wife, Katniss.” 

“Good,” Finnick said while clapping his hands together, “Now that the introductions are out of the way, let's get started." They walked up to the home and started inside to go over what needed to be done. 

Peeta followed the older woman around the home with his sketchpad as she told him what use to be in place. They found out that she was the daughter of the last lighthouse keeper to stay on the island; making her family the last to live in the house. After the war they were able to move to the mainland since electric lights started to make their way to the lighthouses. The Odair family owned a large chunk of the area; her father was one of the only people with a steady job, so he bought up property and land during the depression allowing the families who lost it to work and stay. It was a practice that gave the family great credibility and wealth as things got better. 

The last room they entered was the master bedroom. As they pushed the door open a shiver went up Peeta’s spine even though it was nearly 80 and humid outside the broken windows. She told him that she wanted this room to be fixed up, but only enough to keep the house safe. It would be locked up at all times after they opened the home for tours. Although the room made him uncomfortable he felt it was the nicest in the home, and had a beautiful view with the full windows. He was sure it would be something that a lot of people would love to see. He started to ask her why when she cut in. "No one is ever to be in this room alone. In fact, there are some rules the whole team needs to hear. Shall we?" She pushed past Peeta and started towards the stairs. He had no choice but to close the door to the room and follow her.

The team gathered in the front room to go over the process with the owners. “So,” Madge started, “here is how we like to run projects like this one. Peeta has all the information he needs to create the blueprints and sketches of what the home will look like. I understand you want us to help purchase the furniture as well, which is going to be my job along with getting any permits we may need.” 

“Annie runs a store in town, so we would like to run all the purchases through there.” Aunt Mags added in. 

“Perfect. Annie we can go to your shop tomorrow and start looking. Gale and Katniss will go through today to make sure that there are no real structural issues or mold as those can change timeframes. Tomorrow we should have sketches and a better idea of what we are dealing with. Once you approve, we will start with the demo."

“Great, I want to help with the demo if that is ok? In fact, I can help with anything you need." Finnick added looking like a boy asking for a puppy. 

“Let’s see what we are dealing with first, if there is mold it changes how we demo.” Katniss cut in less than impressed with the rich boy who wanted to play demo master. 

The owners agreed to meet in the morning at Sae’s and left the team to their work. On their way out Aunt Mags stopped turning to the team. "I almost forgot, there are some rules to working on the home. First, no one is to ever be in the master bedroom by themselves, in fact, it is preferable that no one is ever in the home by themselves, period. Second, you can only be on the island during the day, under no circumstances should you be here before sunrise or after sunset. Lastly, (speaking as she lifted a small bag from the chair she had been sitting on when they arrived) everyone on the team is to wear one of these anytime they are working on the home. It will protect you.” Madge reached out to take the bag and pulled out four necklaces with small crystal pieces. 

“Protect us from what?” Madge asked. 

“Just for protection. Humor an old woman.” Mags said with a smile. 

At this point, Katniss noticed that the three owners all had crystals of their own. She pushed a smile on her face as she took two crystals from Madge for her and Peeta. They watched as Finnick helped his Aunt into their Jeep and left.

The team broke up to do the work they promised; Peeta sitting on a spot near the rocks that overlooked the ocean, Gale and Katniss moved inside to go through the home and Madge to the truck bed starting to go through catalogs of turn of the century furniture. Peeta was so into the sketch he was working on that he didn't hear Katniss coming up behind him. Of course, that was never really anything new as Katniss could sneak up on anything. He had finished the sketches for the main areas of the house hours ago, and was working on one for the master bedroom, the one that they were not to renovate. For some reason he just felt the need to do it. 

“That looks nice, too bad she won’t let us do any of it.” The voice made Peeta jump, causing Katniss to chuckle a bit. 

“Yea, I know, I just wanted to do one for that room. Feels wrong to not include it, even if it was a waste of time.”

"Well, we need to get moving-we don't want to break the rules on the first day." Katniss lent Peeta a hand getting up. After sitting too long he sometimes struggled to get up due to tearing his ACL during a wrestling tournament his senior year of college. Peeta wrapped her in a hug after straightening up. She smelled like sweat mixed with seawater, but it didn't matter to him as she melted into his body. After a moment, they separated their bodies, only to meet hands instead as they walked to the truck.

“How did the house look? Do you think we will have any issues?” Madge asked as the started to cross the long bridge which would take them back to the mainland. 

"Looked good. The structure is sturdy and there was very little mold. In fact, the only place we found anything odd was in the master bedroom, but it looked more like some kind of rust under the wallpaper. I am a little shocked that it looked so good." Gale stated.

“Regardless, I want everyone to wear full masks during demo, you never know what you’ll find.” Madge stared straight at Gale as Katniss and Peeta shared an eye roll. Madge was so worried about Gale being around mold, thinking it would hurt their future children if he was exposed. The best part was that Gale would be the first to take it off the minute she was not looking. 

After dinner and a final view of the plans, the couples move to their separate rooms to get ready for a new day at the lighthouse. It had been a full day for everyone, with many more to come if they were going to get this project done in such a short timeframe. 

Peeta entered the shower behind Katniss, placing small kisses along her neck. She moved her head to the side allowing him more access as he moved his hands to cup her breasts. The smell of sweat and sea water from earlier in the day were replaced by coconut shampoo and soap. He turned her to help get the conditioner from her silky hair, giving her a head message while he was at it. She kept her eyes closed but small moans escaped her lips as he worked. Once he had her hair free of all the product he pushed her against the wall, grinding into her warm center. The feel of her against him was too much and Peeta lifted her into the air. She reached down lining them up before sinking down onto him. It didn’t take much at this angle for both of them to hit their climaxes. 

He put her down and now it was her turn to clean him up, taking great care to miss the scar on the back of his head from the rolling pin his mother used on him as a punishment when he was a child. It was not that it hurt to touch, more that it hurt her to think of how someone could do that to their child, especially someone as gentle and caring as Peeta. After they finished drying each other off they went to bed, Peeta curled up behind her placing his hand around her stomach. For the first time since arriving Peeta felt content.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got around to posting chapter 2! Thank you to all who have read and commented. Warning...this is kinda scary. Quotes from the book are in italics. Enjoy!

After a couple of weeks of demo Katniss noticed a change in Peeta. At first, he just seemed to be more tired than normal, but now he seemed on edge as well. It was almost like he was on guard- similar to how he was when they used to visit his mother. At night Katniss noticed him having nightmares about the abuse he took from his mother growing up. She tried to wake him, but when she finally succeeded, it took him a few minutes to realize where he was. He offered to sleep on the couch, afraid he would hurt her during one of his dreams, or flashbacks, as he called them since they seemed so real. She didn’t know what to do or how to help, but after some of the rumors they had been hearing she was starting to fear it had something to do with the house.

As the house started to take shape she would watch Peeta’s every move. It was what they did, protected each other, even if it was from something she couldn’t see. One day he started wondering away from her and Gale as if something was calling to him. She followed him so quietly that he did not notice she was there. Peeta pushed the door to the master bedroom open, looked around before walking in and closed the door behind him. Katniss walked up, listened and what she heard took her aback…was that his mother talking? “You useless piece of crap, how could you betray me and bring that trash here. You know I will never accept a child of hers as my own flesh and blood.” She had heard this fight before, as it was one of the worst moments in their life. She flung the door open to find Peeta staring at a blank wall shaking with anger.

“I love her and if you can’t accept that then you don’t have to see us again.” She heard him yell before he turned to walk away not even seeing Katniss in the door. He was still in a trance like state and while she could not see the source of the other voice, it called out “You wait there! You can’t walk out on me, you are the reason I am dead, you and that brat. You’ll both pay for it, just wait and see.” Suddenly, a breeze came and went from the room sucking the air from Katniss’s lungs. 

She collapsed to the ground and Peeta ran to her side.  “Are you okay, what is going on?”

“I think so, did you see her or just hear her?”

Peeta looked at Katniss like she was crazy, then realized where they were. “Who are you talking about, and how did we get up here?”

“You have no idea,” Katniss said still out of breath, but more from worry. “You were with us, then just walked away. I followed you up here and heard your mother. She was blaming us for her death. She was yelling about the baby.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, but I think we need to get out of here.” She could see fear in his eyes. She nodded her head as Peeta picked them both off the ground and headed for the stairs. She felt something watching them, but was too afraid to look back as they gathered Gale and the rest of their belongings to leave for the night. 

 

Katniss walked slowly towards the closed door of the master bedroom. She could hear the muffled sounds of an infant crying behind it. As she pushed it open the cries of the infant were mixed with the sound of the ocean and seagulls. The room was as gray as the storm clouds that filled the sky outside, and in the corner near the window she saw Peeta in a rocking chair holding a pink bundle. He wouldn't look at her, instead, he just started talking.  "You killed her. You weren’t strong enough and she is dead.  My daughter is dead because of you." She stared at him as he raised from the chair, the cries of the child were now silent as he put the bundle in an old style bassinet. He raised his face to look at her and she felt an immediate fear by the look in his eyes. Instead of his normal bright and warm eyes, these were dark, cold and hollow. She tried to back away, but he was on her faster than she could react. His hands found her throat, he threw her to the ground screaming at her. “You killed her, you killed my daughter, you’re a mutt, you don’t deserve to live. Katniss, Katniss, you killer, you mutt.”

“Katniss, please wake up.” Her eyes flew open to see him above her, she immediately started fighting. She was pushing him away screaming for him to get off.  He backed off of her looking scared and hurt. He kept talking to her, his voice had a calming effect that she needed and he sat on the bed arms in the air in a surrender, waiting for her to come to him. As she realized where she was and that this Peeta was her Peeta, she fell into him crying. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her without question. He ran his hand over her hair calming her and rocking her like he would as if he was comforting a child. Her breath started to regulate and she looked at him, he was worried. “You hated me.  It’s my fault she is dead.”

Peeta looked at her with confusion. “What are you talking about? Who is dead?”

“Our baby. I wasn’t strong enough and you hated me.”

 "Our baby? You know that was not your fault. You miscarried.  Remember the doctor said something went wrong at the beginning. There is nothing you did wrong and there was nothing we could have done.” He pulled her back so she could look into his eyes, “I love you and never blamed you for what happened. You need to know that.”

“You tried to kill me. You had the baby in your arms, she was crying. You weren’t you though, it was like you were someone else. Oh God, I don’t know if I can go back to that house. It’s all because of the house.”

“Katniss, what are you talking about?”

“After everything that happened today in the master suite, with the ghost of your mother yelling at you about the baby and what we are hearing I think the house really is haunted.  It’s like it is using our past against us. It’s trying to hurt us and pull us apart.”

“That will never happen. Nothing will ever pull us apart, no one will ever make us separate. Do you understand?” Peeta stared at her hard in the face and she was comforted by his bright blue eyes. Ones that were so different from the ones in her dream, ones that would never hurt her. 

“Maybe you should stay home today, give yourself a break.”

“No, I am not letting you go there alone. We are doing this together, just like we do everything else.” She wrapped her arms around him and he pulled her down to lay on the bed. 

She fit her head into the cruck of his neck and took a deep breath of Peeta, her Peeta. It was intoxicating to her, she started placing feathery kisses along his neck. She just wanted to forget the dream and she knew exactly how she wanted make that happen. Peeta let out a soft moan as her hands started to travel down the hard plains of his chest, she could feel the muscles contract under her touch. She toyed with the waistband of his boxers. It drove him nuts, but she loved the power it gave her over him. She finally dragged his boxers down releasing him, before looking up at his face through her eyelashes. Katniss gave him a mischievous grin, then licked along the underside of his shaft, swirling her tongue around his tip before taking as much of him as she could into her mouth. Peeta groaned and threw his head back as she moved up and down along his shaft. Suddenly Katniss released him moving quickly up his body to straddle his hips. She moved her underwear to the side sheathing him into her with one quick motion. Peeta looked into her eyes they were now dark gray, and almost didn’t look like they belonged to her.  She grabbed his hands holding them above his head as she rode him with a fierceness he had never felt. He felt like he should stop it, but she leaned back enough to change the angle that felt so good it wiped all thoughts from his mind. Moments later she was fluttering around his cock, taking him over the edge with her.

Katniss licked her lips before collapsing on his chest, breath coming from her in short pants.  Peeta wrapped his arms around her body as their heart rates steadied. He felt like he needed to say something, “Not that I am complaining, but that was different.” 

She pulled away enough to look him in the eyes, he noticed they were now back to her normal bright silver color. “Yea, I am not sure what came over me. Sorry,” she looked like she was embarrassed.

Peeta put his hand on her cheek, “there is nothing to be embarrassed about, it was just not like you.” He was not sure what to say anymore, instead he smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. He didn’t want to push her but felt like something was off with her after the dream.

She cuddled back into his body before speaking, “I love you Peeta, always.” He tightened his hold on her, hoping he could convey everything he was feeling. That he loved her, and would do anything to keep her safe. He lay awake as her breath evened out. He was determined to get this job done, but worried it would take everything he had to keep everyone safe.

 

The next day the whole team returned to the house, but Katniss seemed to be more withdrawn. She blamed it on not sleeping well and changed the subject when Madge asked her what was wrong. Peeta felt it would be better to get her out of the living quarters and decided they should separate from the others to work on the ground floor of the lighthouse, leaving Gale and Madge to work alone in the house. 

Madge made her way to the basement to see if she could find anything they could use for decorations after they finished the renovations. At the base of the stairs she found a small room which must have been used for storing supplies. She started looking through boxes and found a large amount of jars for canning, she moved the boxes aside discovering an old potbelly stove. Madge looked around to find it was not connected to anything, almost as if it was hidden away. 

“Hey Gale, come look at this,” she yelled in his direction hoping he could hear her. Seconds later he was behind her looking confused at the finding.

“That’s weird, wonder why they had this down here”

“Don’t know, do you think we can get it upstairs? It will really look great in the kitchen.”

Gale moved around the stove, lifting it to test the weight. “I will need a dolly and Peeta, but we should be able to get it out of here.”

Gale went to get the others from the lighthouse to show off their find and get help moving it, leaving Madge alone for the first time in the house. She was looking through boxes looking for anything that would tell the story of the lighthouse. Most of the townspeople talked about how it was haunted by the wife of a lightkeeper who had drowned at sea, but there was nothing to prove they even existed. Madge felt like the Odairs were keeping information about the history of the house from them, but all she had to go on was hearsay. Suddenly Madge felt a cold chill go through her and had the feeling like she was being watched. She slowly stood, but she was too afraid to turn around. It was almost as if she could see a man behind her and felt his eyes burrowing into her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to prepare to turn to face him, before the sound of footsteps on the stairs broke the tension in the air. 

“Holy shit, that is cool, it looks heavy though.” Peeta’s voice echoed in the small room bringing Madge back to reality. 

“Yea, but I think we can get it, lift up on that end and let’s get it on the dolly.” Gale was focused on the mission not noticing that Madge was still breathing hard. She mumbled about needing some air before pushing past the two men. 

“She okay?” Peeta asked Gale, “she’s not pregnant is she?”

Gale’s eyes widened.  “Not that I know of, do you think?”

“Don’t know, she just looked like she was going to be sick. Let’s get this thing out of here, I hate basements.”

It didn’t take long to get the stove upstairs to the kitchen area, but Gale noticed that they had left a trail of ash behind them. “I guess it was still full. We should try to clean this out.”

Madge and Katniss rejoined them in the kitchen as Peeta knelt in front of the stove opening the door. Madge saw it at the same time he did, something was shining through the darkness of the firepot.  She reached past him to find what appeared to be a pocket watch; after wiping it clean with a rag she moved it around in her hands.  It was in really good shape considering it had been in the stove for decades. Tracing the watch with her fingers she could see there was a very intricate of a bird along with writing on the back. She pushed the top to open the case revealing a watch on one side and a picture on the other. Madge gasped at what she found, before dropping it from her hands. Peeta looked down, his eyes widening as he saw what she did. The picture was of a young woman with long dark hair and light eyes, wearing an old fashioned shirt, but this woman looked just like Katniss. 

Katniss walked up to see what had spooked her husband, staring in disbelief at what she saw. “That’s not possible.”

Madge came out of her shock to grab the watch from the ground. Trying to fix the situation, like she always did. “I’ll take it to the Odairs, maybe they know who this is.” She was out of the room before the others could react.

 

Madge knew she needed to get to the truth.  Everyone on the team had felt something while at the house and after finding the picture a week before they all seemed to be more on edge, but Peeta was worse than the others. She told Annie that it was time for her to work on gathering the history and pictures of the lighthouse for the finished product and that she would need to spend more time in town with her. She wanted to ask about the picture, but needed to lead up to it so she didn’t alert her. She felt lighter not being at the lighthouse with the rest of the group, but at the same time she felt a dread of not being with everyone. She was in such a daze thinking about it that she did not hear Annie come into the room. In fact, Annie had to call her name several times before she realized she was there.

“Sorry, I guess I am just a bit out of it. I didn’t get a lot of sleep yesterday.”

“That’s ok, is everything alright?”

“Yea, well, no not really. What do you know about the lighthouse? Did anything weird ever happen to you there?”

Annie stared back with wide eyes and took a deep breath before answering, “Why?” 

"Peeta's been acting weird. I have known him for years and have never seen him like this. He is short tempered and seems tired all the time, like something is draining him. We have worked on more sites than I care to mention and nothing has taken it out of him like this one. I’m just not sure why, but something feels off about that place.” Madge looked up to meet Annie’s eyes, she needed the truth. “What is going on there Annie? Are my friends in danger?”

Annie stopped and looked around, as if to see if the coast was clear to talk.  “Look, we don’t talk about it much, but there have been a couple of deaths, along with the ghost stories to go with it. Before our family took over as the lighthouse keepers and subsequent owners, the lighthouse keeper and his wife died out there. I guess it was a big deal; they found his body on the rocks under the lighthouse, but no one really knows what happened to her. They say she went out for a swim and never returned. You can get the articles on it at the historical society, but I know that Mags does not want it tied to the house. We spent years fighting off the ghost hunters and crazy teens wanting to see the haunted lighthouse. She just wants it to be good now. I know you guys understand.”  Annie stopped and looked towards the lighthouse. “I am sure everyone will be fine. I know I get a little more drained when I am out there too sometimes.  Maybe he just needs some time away.”

“Maybe we should all take a day. See the sites around town.” Madge tried to force a smile, but the look on Annie’s face made her pause. “What’s wrong?”

“I am a little worried about those clouds. They may want to head in soon, that storm looks like it will be really bad.”

Madge looked out the window and immediately started calling Gale. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

“Hey babe, what’s going on?”

“Are you guys monitoring the weather?  A really bad storm is rolling in.”

“Yea, we are packing up now, Katniss just went to get Peeta from the lighthouse and we will be on our way.”

“Wait, he’s alone?” Madge nearly screamed into the phone. Annie noticed the tone in her voice and ran to her side. 

“He said he needed to check on something, he’s fine.” Suddenly Madge heard his phone hit the ground. “Oh my God” were the last words she heard as the line went dead. She looked at Annie with tears forming. “We need to get out there, something’s wrong.”

 

Katniss looked up from the box she was packing into the truck to find Gale walking towards her alone. “Where’s Peeta? I thought you were both at the lighthouse.”

“He said he wanted to check something and told me to head on to the truck. The weather is really rolling in.”

“You left him alone? You know we’re not supposed to be inside that place alone!” Katniss yelled already running towards the lighthouse. The structure was only about 100 yards away, but if felt like it took forever for her to get there. By the time she entered she could hear his steps halfway up the stairs. She yelled his name, but he kept going. There was no way he couldn’t hear her and she knew something was very wrong. She ran up the steps taking them two at a time, willing her legs to move faster. By the time she caught up with him he was at the top entering the area where the light was housed.  In the old days a lighthouse keeper would have needed to light the oil lamps by hand, but now there were huge electric lights in place. She needed to get around them and fast. Just then she noticed Peeta moving to open the small door that led to the outside of the lighthouse. 

Katniss was panicking as she yelled his name once more. This time, it seemed to work, but when he looked at her his eyes were the same dark, cold distant eyes from her dream.  She heard his voice, but it was not him “I need to be with her, this is the only way.” He moved towards the door once more.  She got to him just as he made his way onto the small landing.  Grabbing him by the face, _she does the only thing she can think of.  She leans in and kisses Peeta full on the mouth, hoping he will come to and not push them both to the rocks below.  As she kisses him, his whole body begins to shudder, but she keeps her lips pressed to his until she needs to come up for air. "Stay with me" she begs. His pupil's contract to pinpoints, dilate again rapidly and then return to something resembling normalcy. "Always" he answers._

She takes a deep breath and backs them into the lighthouse. He looks around before asking how they got there. “I’ll tell you outside, we need to go.” She pulls him to the stairs forcing him to run down as fast as he can. She does not want to be in the building for one more second, in fact, she wants off that island. They run right into Gale as they get to the door and he knows by the look on her face the story is better told after they get away.  As they run to the truck, the rain and winds quickly pick up turning into a monsoon in seconds, drenching them to the bone. Gale jumped into the driver's seat with Katniss pushing Peeta into the back with her never letting go of his hand. They started the truck and moved towards the bridge but they were not quick enough. Halfway across the long bridge they watched in horror as a fishing boat broke away from its moorings and crashed into the bridge. Gale slammed the brakes just before they watched a section of the bridge crumble. “No, no, we cannot go back there!” Katniss wailed. 

“We can't stay here," Gale answered putting the truck into reverse, watching the backup camera as he went.  Suddenly the image of a woman with long dark hair entered the screen and he slammed the brakes again. “Did you see that?”

"What?" Katniss stated, as Peeta looked behind and saw nothing.  "There was a woman," Gale stated, squinting his eyes to try to see it again in the camera before looking behind. “Forget it, let’s get off this bridge.” 

They made it back to the house, but Katniss protested. “We can’t go in there. Something is trying to hurt us.”

"Katniss, what is going on?” Peeta pronounced every word looking both confused and annoyed at her actions.

“You told Gale you needed to check on something and for him to head to the truck. I ran in there and you would not even look at me. By the time I caught up, you were saying you needed to be with her and opened the window. I was afraid you were going to jump. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t you.” 

Both men stared at her as she told the story. Peeta reached up and used his thumb to wipe away the tears that were flowing down her face. She didn’t like to show her emotions, so he knew this had a profound effect on her. 

“Okay," Peeta started taking a deep breath. "So what do we do?  We can't stay in this truck with this storm, but I don't know if the house is any safer."

“We go into the house and stay together," Gale answered. “We don’t even separate to go to the bathroom, got it?  I was on the phone with Madge when I saw you both in the lighthouse. I am sure she is going to force someone to get out here to check on us if we don’t show up soon.” The other two nodded in agreement and reached for the doors preparing to make a run for the house. 

As they enter the house, the air feels thick, and the cool air causes all three to shiver. They turn on as many lights as they can find and settle into the main room. All of them are too afraid to venture far into the house. Slowly, as they begin to settle in, the sound of a music box filled the quiet room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on Tumblr: Historywriter2007.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Real life got in the way. Big thanks to everllarkingjoshifer for her assistance and guidance as I worked through this chapter. By the way, this chapter is a bit scary..

Katniss immediately recognized the song, her sister had done ballet for years before she got sick, it was her favorite, the Swan Theme, from Swan Lake. Her eyes met Peeta’s for a split-second before the front door burst open from the force of the wind. Peeta and Gale moved to the door to push it shut leaving Katniss alone in the middle of the room. It only took seconds for them to get the door shut and locked, but when Peeta turned to where Katniss had been he found an empty room. Panic took over as he ran to the one place he knew she must be, with Gale a step behind. 

As they got to the end of the hallway they were just in time to see Katniss in the doorway of the master bedroom before the door slammed shut. Peeta and Gale’s shoulders hit the door in unison but it was no good, the old wooden door was too sturdy. “Go get something to get through this door, we need to get her out.” Peeta’s voice was filled with fear, not knowing what was happening inside that room. Gale simply nodded before running to the stairs. Peeta put his ear against the door hoping to hear something and he yelled out to Katniss, but he was met only with silence. He now understood the fear she felt earlier in the day when she couldn’t get to him. They made a pact to protect each other, but he was failing her and it was more than he could bear. 

Katniss felt like she was in a trance and her body was no longer hers to control as invisible forces continued pushing her towards the sound of the music. The door to the master bedroom opened on its own showing only an open wooden music box on a table in the center of the room. Katniss forced herself to look back towards the door just in time to see Peeta and Gale running towards her, the loud bang of the door closing finally broke her free from the trance. She ran to the door frantically trying to twist the knob begging Peeta to open it, she could barely hear his panicked voice over the sound of the wind and rain hitting the roof of the house. She felt the presence in the corner of the room and it took everything she had to turn her head to face it. As soon as she looked she regretted acknowledging its existence. A man appeared near the closed door, he moved quickly towards her as Katniss backed away, trying to put distance between them before bumping into the table knocking a wooden music box to the ground, silencing the music. She looked around the once empty room to find it now full of furniture but she didn’t have time to think about what this meant as the man continued his march towards her. She started moving again until she hit the large windows signaling that she was out of room to run. 

As the man approached she really looked at him for the first time. He was well dressed, especially for someone in the early 1900’s, with dark hair slicked back and a well-groomed beard, but his eyes were cold and so bloodshot that red was the only actual color she could make out. The man started to yell at her, but the sound was so jumbled Katniss couldn’t make out anything he said. The strike to her face was so shocking she didn’t know what had happened until she hit the ground with such a force that her hand went through a floorboard. She turned to see the man raise an iron poker, instinctively she put her arm up to shield her face as the sound of cracking wood caused both her and the man to turn their gaze to the door. She noticed crowbars coming through the door. She looked up to where the man had been, however, the room was now empty of everything. Katniss put her hands down, noticing that the one in the flooring had hit something soft. She reached down to find a book, the cracked leather and yellowed pages indicated that it had been hidden for a long time. Quickly removing the book from its hiding place Katniss situated it under her arm and ran for the door. 

Peeta and Gale had been working on the door to break away a section large enough for Katniss to fit through. Peeta put down his crowbar, reaching his hand out to help her out of the room. As she got past the door Katniss collapsed onto him nearly knocking them both to the ground. 

“We need to get out of this house. I changed my mind, I think the truck may be safer.” Gale announced, breaking up the reunion. Peeta grabbed Katniss’s hand as the three ran to the stairs, just as they got to the first step Katniss felt Peeta being thrust forward and out of her grasp. He was rolling forward down the stairs as she ran behind, no matter how fast she went he was just out of reach. Peeta hit the bottom with a sickening crack, Katniss was at his side a second later. She was met by pain filled blue eyes. She reached down to his bad knee, barely touching it as he winced. 

“This is going to hurt, but we have to get out of here,” Gale stated as he hoisted Peeta up to his feet between him and Katniss making Peeta grunt. Just as they got to the front door they were greeted by a loud banging on the other side. The three stopped dead in their tracks. All that could be heard in the house was their ragged breaths and the wind outside. Gale moved away from Peeta, causing Katniss to stumble under his weight. She readjusted his hand on her shoulder while she took a steadier stance as Peeta groaned in pain. He walked the rest of the way to the door, crowbar raised, before the shouts of the Sheriff Department were heard over the storm. He threw the door open to find two people standing on the porch. “I am guessing you are Gale, Peeta and Katniss. We were sent to get you,” the male said as loud bangs started in the house. “Are you alone here?” he asked while looking around them.

“Yes, we are the only people in the house, can we go now?” Katniss yelled over the rain and bangs. 

“Yea, let’s get off this bloody island,” the female added. The male introduced themselves as Sheriff Abernathy and Deputy Mason, he appeared to be in his 40’s, with gray eyes and dark hair. He moved to Peeta’s side stabilizing him as they fled the home to a waiting boat along the dock. As they got onto the boat Katniss looked back towards the house, she could make out a shadow of a woman crossing behind the window before the room went dark. 

As the boat pulled from the dock the Deputy Mason removed her hat showing short brown spiky hair. “Which one of you guys belongs to Madge?” Gale raised his hand, but couldn’t talk before she started back in. “I like to think I can handle most anyone, but she may be able to take me in a fight. I don’t know how you handle her, she was rather forceful about us getting out here to get you. Lucky for you she didn’t give up.” Gale face showed his confusion and he wondered what Madge had said to them to get that kind of response, although short Deputy Mason was a very imposing figure. The ride back to town was rocky, even as the winds and rain started to let up. By the time they reached the Odair’s store the rain had stopped, giving the moon full reign over the night. 

Madge ran for Gale jumping into his arms as they reached the safety of the store. Finnick came to Peeta’s side giving Katniss a break from holding him up and helped him to the couch in the backroom as Annie ran to get ice. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Peeta could wait until morning to see the town’s only doctor to examine his knee. The group found themselves in an uncomfortable silence until Madge broke it, “so who is going to tell us what the hell happened out there?”

“I think the more important question is what the fuck is going on with that house?” Katniss lashed out from her seat next to her husband. “In the last couple of hours both of us have been attacked, we deserve to know what we got ourselves into out there.”

“Depends on what story you want, the real one or the romanticized one that they will give you.” Deputy Mason had a sarcastic, but firm tone to her voice as she turned to face Finnick. 

“Don’t start this again Jo,” Finnick pleaded

“What, I am just trying to find the truth? Your precious Aunt Mags has done everything she can to keep it hidden for all these years.”

“Really Jo, were you there? No, you are just going off of stories like everyone else.”

“You’re right because we can’t even find the right records at the station, and you know how many requests we get no thanks to all those ghost shows.”

“Stop,” Annie yelled over the two. “Will you two just knock it off? I think it’s time we open up to them about what we all know. Peeta came back hurt and it could’ve been worse.” 

Gale walked forward at this point, with the book in his hand. “I’ll tell you what, let’s hear both stories and let this book tell us which one is right.”

“What is that?” Annie asked reaching towards the worn brown leather book.

“I found it under a floorboard in the master bedroom, right after a ghost knocked me to the ground.” Katniss’s voice was filled with force. 

Finnick looked to the book and his wife before answering, “Fine, I will tell you what I know and then Jo can give you her story. Do you really want to do this now though?”

“Yes,” everyone else said in unison. Finnick took a deep breath and started in on the story he had been told since he was a child. His version focused on Mags’ Uncle Seneca who was the lighthouse keeper in the 1920’s. He talked about the great love Seneca and his wife had for each other until one day he came to town frantically looking for her, he claimed that she told him she was going for a swim but never returned. The townspeople searched but never found her, it is thought that she was swept out to sea and drowned. He started going to town less frequently, and when he did people noticed he looked like he had not been sleeping. One night the lighthouse didn’t turn on and when the sheriff went out to the island, he found Seneca on the rocks below the lighthouse. It is at this point that Joanna has had enough. 

“You know that is not the whole story,” Joanna turns to face the Peeta and Katniss before finishing her thoughts. “Seneca was a very possessive and jealous man, rumor around town was that his precious wife was cheating on him with a ship’s captain who was frequently in port. The last time he was seen he told my great-grandfather that his wife was haunting him. The captain showed up a few days later and made the accusation that Seneca had actually murdered her. The next day Seneca was dead and the captain was gone, never to return.” 

“That’s not entirely true,” a familiar voice stated from the back of the store. Mag’s appeared in the doorway to the shocked group. “The captain showed back up about 10 years later, he came out to the lighthouse and left a music box on the front porch. My mother confronted him but he claimed it was a gift he never got the chance to give and it just felt right to leave it at the house. After that strange things started happening.” 

Finnick walked over to the older woman, confusion marring his features. “Why didn’t you tell us about all of this?”

“My mother wanted the story of her brother to be good, she couldn’t believe he was a murderer, even though deep down I am sure she thought he did it. After a while I heard the story so many times it just became true. No one ever mentioned Seneca’s wife’s name, I don’t even know what she looked like. It’s like she never really existed.”

“I think we can help with a bit of that,” Madge pulled the pocket watch from her pocket showing it to Mags. “We found this at the house, I think this is her. We also may be able to help you with her name, Katniss found a book in the master bedroom.” 

Before Mags could open the pocket watch the room filled with a bright light that swiftly vanished. Finnick and Jo ran to the window, trying to find the source. It quickly became clear where it was originating, someone had turned on the lighthouse beacon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got the last chapter done, sorry for the delay but I had some real life issues that forced me to take a bit of a break from writing. Thank you to everllarkingjoshifer for her beta work, and to all my Camp Nano cabinmates for their support, I don't know what I would do without you all. Without further ado the conclusion to The Lighthouse, enjoy!

“I think we can help with a bit of that,” Madge pulled the pocket watch from her pocket showing it to Mags. “We found this at the house, I think this is a picture of her.  We also may be able to help you with her name, Katniss found a book in the master bedroom.” 

Before Mags could open the pocket watch the room filled with a bright light that swiftly vanished.  Finnick and Jo ran to the window, trying to find the source.  It quickly became clear where it was originating, someone had turned on the lighthouse beacon.

The ringing of Deputy Mason’s  phone jarred everyone from their shock, she answered it and swiftly walked from the room. Before anything could be said, Finnick headed to the desk in the corner grabbing his keys. “I’m going out there to turn off the lights. We can’t leave them on all night.” 

“You aren’t going anywhere near that house right now.” There was a demanding tone in Mag’s voice causing Finnick’s eyes to widen as he placed the keys back on the desk.  Mag’s took a deep breath and turned to the rest of the people in the room. “My family has lost three men to that house and I am not about to let it get one more. Seneca, my father and Finnick’s father, this ends now I am done with the secrets of the past haunting us.” It was as if the lighthouse answered her new found resolve by extinguishing the light.  

Jo walked back into the room confirming to the person on the other end that the lights were back out before hanging up.  “That was Haymitch, he started getting calls about the lighthouse.  What is going on up there?” she asked. 

“I think it’s time we find out.” Katniss carefully opened the journal and started scanning the pages as the rest of the group watched her with rapt attention. “It looks like there is only one entry, maybe this won’t give us the answers we want.” 

“Let’s just read it anyway, there may at least be some clues,” Annie added, obviously shaken from Mag’s newly aired concerns.  

Katniss takes a deep breath before she starts reading the passage aloud. 

 

_ My name is Elizabeth Williams and if you find this journal then I am dead and this is all that is left of my story. My sister gave me the journal to write about the grand adventure I was about to take, in reality, I was entering a nightmare. A year ago Seneca showed up in my town and courted me to be his wife. At first he was charming and kind, even offering to send money to my family each month. I am ashamed to say this was the real reason I married him. I thought he would care for us all and I could be happy, but soon after we wed we moved to the lighthouse. It didn’t take long for him to change into a jealous and controlling man. _

_ After months of being hidden away, I was finally able to convince him to let me venture to town on my own, these visits would end up being the best time of my life, but could also be what leads to my demise. While on one of my visits to town I met Thomas, he is the Captain of a ship that frequented the harbor. His blond hair and bright green eyes were just as much a contrast to Seneca’s gloomy features as their temperaments. Where Seneca was cold and cruel, Thomas was warm and filled me with hope.  We fell in love and he plans to take me from this place. I know that if something were to happen to me I would’ve at least had the pleasure of experiencing true love. _

_ We will leave in the morning, if I am successful in my escape I will destroy these pages, forget this past year and find the adventures my sister had hoped I would find. If not Seneca has found out that I plan to leave and will carry out the threats he has imposed upon me since our wedding night.  I only hope eventually this is found and someone will know the truth of my existence. Should I fall before my escape this I vow, in the name of my ancestors, death shall follow the family of anyone who harms me, or my love. This curse will remain as long as this wretched lighthouse stands.  _

 

Everyone in the room stared at Katniss as she finished reading and closed the book.  Finally, Finnick broke the tension, “well, I guess we now know why our family has such bad luck at the lighthouse.”  

Annie smacked his arm, “that’s your response to all of this?  She was killed for loving someone, no wonder she's so pissed.” 

“Anyone think it’s strange that Katniss looks like Elizabeth and the description of Thomas could be Peeta?  No wonder they took the brunt of the attacks.” Madge started but Johanna silenced the group again. 

“Look, it’s been a long day and we have an idea of what we are dealing with now. Why don’t we break for the night and pick this all back up in the morning? We can go out and see if we can get your truck off the island then search for more clues. I don’t want anyone going out there, no matter what happens. That means you too Finnick.” She said while looking pointedly at him.

Finnick raised his hands in surrender, “Don’t look at me I’m a marked man and staying the hell away from that place.”  

“Fine, but I am bringing the journal with me,” Katniss replied.

“Please don’t; I really don’t want that ghost following us home in a book. No one can do anything to change what we already know.” Madge pleaded.

“Ok, I’ll leave it.” Katniss stood and placed it on the desk next to the pocket watch, then she reached out for Peeta’s hand to pull him to his legs, “let’s get back to the condo.”

Finnick picked up his keys, “I’ll drive you back.” No one spoke as they left Annie’s shop. All were visibly drained from the night’s events while questioning what the next day would bring. 

 

Katniss placed her hand back on Peeta’s chest, she needed to feel his heart beating to remind herself they were safe.  All she could feel was a fear that if she closed her eyes he would disappear. That this was all a cruel trick her mind was playing and in reality, she was too late to save him. She bit the inside of her mouth to the point of tasting blood as she continued to reason with herself that it wasn’t a dream because the pain she felt would have awoken her. She didn’t know what was real or how late it was, the fears flew through her head as she contemplated her sleeping husband.

Peeta was completely unaware of what was happening around him, every touch was missed in his deep drug induced sleep. Katniss had found the Vicodin he had left over from the last time he messed his knee up, she gave it to him to ease his pain and let him sleep. She traced the outline of his jaw with her finger, the stubble that had grown in over the day pricked at her fingers. The sensation caused her to sigh happily, this was just one more feeling to pack away in her brain to convince her they were real. 

A light knocking at the door caused Katniss to turn away from Peeta for the first time all night.  She saw Madge enter and walk towards them. “Jo is coming to get Gale and me to see if we can get the truck off of the island. Will you be ok?” She asked as her eyebrows furrowed with concern. 

“Yea, he hasn’t moved all night, but I am sure he will wake up soon. You be careful out there, I don’t trust that place, even if it is daytime.”  Katniss advised.

“We will, you need to get some rest too. You look like you haven’t slept all night.” Madge replied as she headed for the door leaving Katniss speechless. She hated that she could see right through her. Madge was the only one besides Peeta who knew Katniss better than she knew herself. 

Katniss put her hand back on Peeta’s chest, trying to fight the heaviness of her eyes. Certainly she could close them just for a second. 

The sensation of callused fingers running along her forehead then behind her ear caused her to stir. She didn’t mean to fall asleep and she had no idea how long she was out.  She opened her eyes and met Peeta’s blue eyes, still hazy from sleep. She reached up to cup his cheek, still needing to prove he was real, before smiling at him. 

“How are you feeling?”  She asked tenderly.

“I’m ok, my knee is stiff but not as bad as I thought it would be.” He offered with a lopsided grin.

“When I heard the crack I thought you had completely busted it again.” She answered as she looked at his knee.

“I think that noise was my shoulder hitting the wall, it actually hurts more that my knee,” Peeta said and then turned so Katniss could see his right shoulder, now covered in black and blue bruises. Her fingers ghosted over the marks, he had definitely taken the brunt of the attacks at the house and there was no way she was letting him back there.  

“Katniss, stop looking at me like that, I am fine.” He pleaded.

“I thought I was going to lose you too many times last night. We are not going back out there.  You can’t leave me, you are all I have left.” She whispered as she gingerly traced her finger on his shoulder. 

“Hey, look at me,” Peeta put his hand under her chin, gently pushing it up.  “I’m not going anywhere.” He said tenderly. 

Katniss collapsed against his chest as heavy sobs wracked her body, while Peeta held her and drew small circles around her back with his fingers in an effort to comfort her. She raised her head to kiss him, slow and soft at first then flaming ever so slowly with need. The house has tried to drive a wedge between them and it was succeeding, but she was taking back their life and love. She needed to be close to him but worried about his injuries so she laid back and wrapped her arms around his body. She felt herself calm for the first time in days, suddenly the sound of a loud explosion threw her back into fear.  

Katniss jumped from the bed and ran to the window. “It looks like it came from the lighthouse,” She said, panic filling her voice. They changed quickly while she tried calling Gale before realizing his phone was lost the previous night, instead she started to call Madge when her phone rang in her hand. 

“Katniss, it’s Annie.  Were you guys out there?” She asked frantically.

“Gale and Madge are, they left a while ago with Jo,” Katniss answered.

“Ok, I am on my way to get you, I’ll bring you back to the shop while we find out what’s going on,” Annie informed her.

Moments later Katniss was helping Peeta into Annie’s SUV, all the while she was trying to call Madge’s phone. Her anxiety increased with every unanswered call. It seemed like it took hours to get to the shop when in reality it was minutes. Finnick was on the phone when they arrived, he quickly hung up as they entered.  “That was Johanna, they are fine but the living quarters are a total loss and the lighthouse is extremely damaged. They are on their way back now.”  Finnick said.

 

Forty-five minutes later Jo flung the doors open marching into the shop followed by Gale who was helping a frazzled Madge, both were covered in dirt with bits of glass peppering their hair. Katniss jumped from her spot next to Peeta rushing to hug them both. After a few moments, they separated from their three-way hug to sit on the couch taking the bottles of water Annie offered. 

Finnick ended the silence by asking what everyone else was thinking, “So what happened out there? I think the whole town shook.” He pointed out. 

“Your crazy ass ghost tried to take us all out.” Johanna started before Gale interrupted.

“It was a gas leak. Realistically speaking it may have been ruptured during the storm last night, but from what I have seen in the last couple of weeks I can’t think like before. When we got to the house I wanted to look around to see what we would need to finish up and get an idea of how long it would take for just Madge and me to finish. We went upstairs and the door we busted through last night was intact. It was like nothing happened. The crowbars were on the floor where we left them, but everything else was fine. We gathered the tools and rushed out of there, but as we got to the front door I smelled it for the first time. When I heard clicking I knew what was coming next, so I yelled for everyone to run and as we hit the last step everything blew. I don’t know how far we all flew but thank God we all are still alive.” He recounted.

“Clicking, what clicking noise?” Annie asked. 

“It was as if someone was trying to light the gas stove in the kitchen. We were definitely targets.” Madge answered shakily, but certain. 

“Now what do we do?” Katniss asked. 

Mags appeared in the room. “We pay you for your work and clear the site, both physically and spiritually. Maybe this will give a clean slate to everyone, we have an idea of what happened. Perhaps if we acknowledge and honor Elizabeth she will free my family of this curse.”  She replied.

The next day Gale went to the island to recover the truck, which amazingly enough only had one broken window. The team left Panem, North Carolina at last. They received an update from Annie a few weeks later, as the site was cleared bones were found near the back of the house. They believed it was the remains of Elizabeth, but without knowing how to contact anyone in her family there was no way to know for sure. They buried her in the cemetery in town and asked for forgiveness on behalf of Seneca and his ancestors. Annie also mentioned that they thought they found more information on Thomas, whose last name was Wright, he passed away in the 60’s and was never married.  

 

As promised, Peeta took Katniss on a much-needed vacation to Hawaii. He wanted to get them as far away from the hell they had been through without the need to get out of the country.  The room at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel was beautiful, while Katniss took in the oceanfront view from the room, Peeta took in the view of his wife.  She caught his stare and smiled, Peeta responded by reaching his hand behind her neck and pulled her to his waiting lips. He backed her from the balcony into the room, they separated for a second for him to close the door. When he returned to her she took control and spun him around before pushing him onto the bed. She quickly pulled her dress over her head, and flung it across the room, Peeta realized she had not been wearing a bra all day, but the look of shock was replaced by lust as his focus was drawn to her legs as she slide her orange panties down them.  She moved to straddle him before she pulled his shirt over his head adding it to the pile of clothing on the floor.  He peppered kisses along her neck, down to her chest before taking a nipple in his mouth. She forced him to his back and reached between them to toy with the button of his shorts. His frustrated groan made her chuckle, she popped the button and reached her hand in to find his hot, throbbing cock, after a couple of pumps she pulled his pants away and positioned herself above him.  As she sank onto him they moaned in unison, she rode him slow and steady, like they had all the time in the world.  She rolled her hips so she could angle him to hit her just right while creating friction on her clit. Their passion and love filled each move until she finally felt the euphoria she has been chasing, with Peeta following moments after filling her.  

In those moments in Waikiki they remember all the reasons they loved each other and vowed to tackle anything life threw at them together. What they didn’t know was that a spirit had been waiting for the perfect parents to give him a second chance at life, he chose Katniss and Peeta.  Nine months after they left Hawaii they welcomed a baby boy Cole to the world and started on a new adventure.  

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr at historywriter2007. Look for my new story As We Falter, which I will start posting soon.


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